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More Tribbles, More Troubles (episode)
While escorting a shipment of grain to Sherman's Planet, the Enterprise encounters three "old friends:" Koloth, Cyrano Jones--and tribbles! Summary :"Captain's Log, Stardate 5392.4. The [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)|''Enterprise]] has been assigned to escort two robot grain ships to Sherman's Planet, which has been struck by crop failures and famine. This shipment of seed grain, quintotriticale, is necessary to the survival of the colonists. We are breaking course to Sherman's Planet to investigate what appears to be a Klingon battle cruiser pursuing some kind of smaller ship. Observation may confirm a rumor that the Klingons have a new weapon – type so far, unknown." Sulu confirms that the vessel is a Klingon ship, rapidly closing in on its target, a one-man Federation scout ship of common design. Captain Kirk hails the Klingon battle cruiser after it begins firing on the scoutship, demanding that they identify themselves. After receiving no response, Kirk orders the ''Enterprise to pursue at warp 6. While the Enterprise attempts to get within transporter range, the scoutship continues to dodge several volleys of Klingon weapons fire. Kirk again demands the Klingon battle cruiser to identify itself, stating that it is violating Federation space. The battle cruiser attacks the scout ship with another volley of weapons fire, and Kirk orders the Enterprise to raise deflector shields and to arm all phasers. The Enterprise increases to warp 8, still demanding that the Klingon vessel stand down. The cruiser continues to fire on the scout ship as Scotty transports the occupant just as the scout ship explodes. Meanwhile the Klingon cruiser turns its attention to the Enterprise. The Enterprise automatically goes to red alert moments before the Klingons utilize their new weapon – identified as some sort of field effect that produces a most remarkable disruption. As a result of the first shot, the Enterprise s engines go dead – further analysis of the weapon determines it to be a projected stasis field, which paralyzed the Enterprise by disabling its matter/antimatter generators. Kirk attempts to return fire, but the ship's phasers, as well as its photon torpedoes are also disabled. Spock concludes that the weapon is capable of disabling all higher order field and warp functions. Spock surmises that this new Klingon weapon must be one of surprising power if it can immobilize a starship and that the energy drain on the Klingon ship must be enormous. Scotty, meanwhile, is still attempting to materialize the scout ship pilot, who is still stuck in mid-transport, due to interference from the Klingon attack. The Klingon ship, commanded by Captain Koloth hails the Enterprise. Kirk demands to Koloth that he release his ship; Koloth, in turn, demands that Kirk hand over the scoutship pilot. However, because the craft was Federation-built, its pilot is under Kirk's protection. Koloth explains that the pilot has committed ecological sabotage (which crime he does not immediately explain), and that if he has to take him by force, he will. "The first Klingon to step aboard this ship will be the ''last Klingon''", Kirk defiantly states. Uhura breaks in and informs Spock and Kirk that she is losing contact with the robot-ships because they were moving out of range, having not been affected by the stasis field. Realizing that they still have control of the ships, Kirk breaks off communication with Koloth and orders Sulu to bring them back and have them ram the Klingon ship from different angles. Spock reminds Kirk that he cannot afford to lose that grain, but Kirk can afford less to lose the Enterprise. Kirk re-establishes contact with Koloth's ship and again demands that he release the Enterprise. Koloth catches on to Kirk's plan and fires the stasis fields at both approaching ships; but his ship's power is now overextended, as it attempts to hold three ships at once in stasis. Suddenly the stasis field releases the Enterprise and Koloth's ship fires at one of the robot ships, disabling it by destroying its nacelles. Koloth's ship veers off, as their power cells are almost exhausted. With the Klingons gone, Scotty is finally able to re-integrate the scout ship pilot in the transporter. Dr. McCoy, Spock and Kirk arrive in the transporter room just as the pilot materialize, revealing Cyrano Jones, and a transporter pad full of tribbles. :"Captain's Log, supplemental. Our rescue effort has given us some knowledge of the new Klingon weapon – and the presence of Cyrano Jones, intergalactic trader and general nuisance." Jones greets "friend Kirk," only to get a bitter reply reminding him about breaking the law by transporting animals proven harmful. Jones declares that these are safe tribbles, as they are incapable of reproducing. Jones had them genetically engineered for compatibility with humanoid ecology. ]] Kirk inquires as to why he left Space Station K-7, knowing full well he could not have cleaned up all the tribbles there. Jones reveals that he found some help, a tribble predator, called a "glommer". Kirk then inquires as to why the Klingons were chasing him, to which Jones replies "How should I know? Klingons have notoriously bad tempers." Kirk brought up Koloth's mention of "ecological sabotage," to which Jones stumbles around until he confesses that he sold tribbles on a Klingon planet, but claims not to have known that it was a Klingon planet. Kirk states to Jones that according to Federation computer files, he was in violation of three Federation mandates and forty-seven local ones. Kirk confines Jones until they complete their mission, after which, he will be turned over to the proper authorities. The senior staff conducts a meeting where McCoy confirms Jones' claim that the new tribbles don't reproduce; "They just get fat." Kirk is more concerned about the new Klingon weapon. Spock explains that it is an energy-sapping field of great strength. It immobilizes a starship and its weapons capability, but apparently it also renders the projecting ship nearly helpless at the same time. Despite the practical disadvantage the weapon poses to the Klingons, it does have logical applications. The key question is "How long does it take to recharge?" Concerned that the Klingons will attempt to destroy the remaining robot ship when they return, Kirk inquires to the status of the first damaged ship. Scotty notes that they have transported all the grain off the ship and onto the Enterprise, severely limiting them. Her shuttlebay, extra cargo holds and corridors were overfilled with barrels of grain. Back on the bridge, the ships sensors detect the Klingon battle cruiser once again. Kirk orders the other robot-ship to change course and act as a decoy as the Enterprise begins evasive maneuvers. The Klingon cruiser veers off and attacks the robot-ship, disabling its nacelles as well. The cruiser changes course back to the Enterprise, and fires upon her. As a result of the attack, the grain barrels in the corridors of the ship break open. The tribbles, roaming freely around the ship begin to eat the spilled grain, growing immensely fatter in size. They grow too large, in fact, for the glommer, which is also roaming freely through the corridors, to effectively devour the tribbles. The Enterprise returns fire on Koloth's ship, which quickly withdraws. With the second robot grain-ship also disabled, Kirk is forced to use a tractor beam to tow the vessel. Spock fears this was Koloth's intention all along – as he forced the Enterprise to expend additional power to tow the robot ship. Scott warns Kirk that that is not his only problem, as the tribbles were eating all the grain in the corridors from the broken containers. Alarmed, Kirk requests that Cyrano Jones is to report to the bridge immediately. Jones arrives on the bridge and innocently offers Kirk some Spican flame gems. Kirk explains that his tribbles are all over the ship and that his security men cannot find them all – and worse, they are eating the quintotriticale. Koloth's battle cruiser once again returns, forcing Kirk to release the robot ship and prepare for battle. :"Captain's Log, supplemental. The Klingon ship under command of Captain Koloth is forcing us into a battle for custody for Cyrano Jones, for reasons still unknown." The Enterprise fires a photon torpedo moments before Koloth fires his stasis field. The field and the torpedo cross paths, and the torpedo is destroyed and the Enterprise becomes caught in its path as well. Koloth once again hails Kirk, stating that he will be taking control of his ship now and demanding the release of Jones. Koloth orders Korax to implement "Boarding Plan C." Meanwhile, Kirk orders Scotty to implement "Emergency Defense Plan B." Just as the Klingon troops approach their transporter room, the door bursts open and the room fills with enormous tribbles that had been beamed over from the Enterprise. Kirk hails Koloth one last time and asks if he wishes to surrender. Koloth, unaware of what action had been taken against his ship, once again rejects his request. Suddenly an enormous tribble rolls through the bridge. Koloth breaks down and explains that the reason they want Cyrano Jones so badly is because he stole a Klingon genetic construct, an artificial creature from a Klingon planet, the first of its kind. Koloth demands they have the glommer back as it was designed to be a tribble predator, noting that they are even prepared to go to war if they have to. Koloth explains that they need it in order to grow more from it so that they may rid the Klingon planet that Jones sold tribbles on before they completely over-run it – and destroy its ecology, which Jones had unwittingly sabotaged. This time, now that he knows what is really at stake, Kirk concurs with Koloth's request and orders Scott to transport it over to the Klingon ship as well. Jones objects to Kirks request, stating that under space salvage laws, the glommer is his; however, Scott notes that a planet's surface is not covered by these laws, so the only way he can stay with the glommer is to be transported with it onto the Klingon ship. Jones relents. Upon receiving the glommer, Koloth's ship releases the Enterprise. Despite their encounter with the new Klingon weapon, Kirk establishes that the stasis field is not as effective of a weapon as they thought. The power drain is too high, and it takes too long for the Klingon ship to recover to make it practical. McCoy, meanwhile, makes a further analysis of Jones's genetically engineered tribbles only to determine that it was a slipshod procedure at best. It seems that he was only able to keep them from reproducing, not slow down their metabolism. It was determined that these "giant" tribbles are in fact large colonies. Onboard Koloth's ship, the crew attempt to use their recovered glommer on the tribbles infesting their engine room. The door opens, and an enormous tribble stands blocking the door. Cowed from its previous failures aboard the Enterprise, the glommer flees in terror. Koloth orders Korax to blast it with his disruptor, and it explodes into dozens of smaller tribbles. Koloth orders Korax never to do it again. Back in the Enterprise s corridor, McCoy uses a simple shot of neoethylene to force the tribble colonies to break down into their individual units with a slower metabolic rate, ensuring, once and for all, truly safe tribbles. Kirk looks up a Jefferies Tube, tells McCoy that he missed one. But McCoy tells Kirk he did not miss it, and before Kirk can say anything else, he is again buried in tribbles. Kirk just stands there, up to his armpits again in tribbles and can only lament "Someday I'll learn." Scott then tells Kirk that if they must have tribbles around, it's best if all their tribbles are little ones. Memorable quotes "The first Klingon to step aboard this ship will be the last Klingon. Full security alert, Mr. Spock." : - Kirk "I'm afraid, Captain Kirk, you will find your phasers no longer work, nor any of your weapons." : - Koloth "I... think we know that man!" "It appears to be..." "I don't want to think about it." "Cyrano Jones!" "And he's got tribbles with him. Tribbles!" : - Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Scott recall their last meeting with Cyrano Jones and Tribbles "Jones, how did you get away from Space Station K-7? You were supposed to clean up all the tribbles there!" "Oh, well, I managed a short parole; I found some help. This is a tribble predator. It's called a glommer. Watch." (Glommer catches a tribble and consumes it) "Well, at least it's neat." : - Kirk, Cyrano Jones and McCoy "Jim, there's something about these tribbles." "Later, Bones!" (pushes a huge tribble out of his chair) : - McCoy and Kirk "Aren't you going to sit down, sir?" (Kirk stands next to the captain's chair, which is occupied by a giant tribble) "I think I'll stand." : - Spock and Kirk "Kirk, Cyrano Jones took a Klingon genetic construct, an artificial creature, from one of our planets! We must have it back! It was designed to be a tribble predator! We are prepared to go to war if we have to!" "You must have others?" "This was the first one, Kirk. We need it in order to grow others from it! We need it to get rid of the tribbles Jones sold before they completely overrun the planet!" "And that's all you want?" "Jones is not that important! We must have the glommer!" : - Koloth and Kirk "He did it to us again! That tin-plated overbearing excuse for a starship captain did it to us again! Blast that thing!" (Korax shoots the giant tribble with his disruptor. It explodes into numerous small tribbles which bury them.) "Any other orders, sir?" "Yes: Don't do that again...'ever'!''" : - '''Koloth' and Korax Background information Story and script * This episode was a sequel to David Gerrold's own . * The story for this installment started as a proposed episode for the original series of Star Trek, but was ultimately never produced for that series, mainly because third season producer Fred Freiberger hated the first tribbles episode and its comedic tone. (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages, p. 97; TAS DVD audio commentary) * The writing of this episode was prefaced by David Gerrold, having heard about Star Trek: The Animated Series, dropping notes to Gene Roddenberry and Dorothy Fontana that hinted at Gerrold's willingness to write an episode. He later recounted, "notes said, 'I'm available if you need me. I'd love to do one. " Gerrold initially learned about the prospect of adapting his proposed tribble sequel upon Fontana, with whom he had formed a friendship, calling him. He remembered, "I was one of the first writers she called .... When she came aboard the animated ''Star Trek as associate producer, she called me and said, 'You wanna do "More Tribbles, More Troubles"? .... Let's do this, your tribble episode for Star Trek: Animated. " (TAS DVD audio commentary) Gerrold also recounted, "''Dorothy ... said, 'Well, of course you're going to do the Tribble episode that we didn't get to do during ''Star Trek s third season. " The invite highly excited Gerrold. (TAS DVD audio commentary) "''I said Fontana, 'Of course,' and that was it," he remembered. "There was almost nothing to it. It was like a forgone conclusion that was going to happen." (Star Trek Magazine issue 132, p. 19) * Jointly, David Gerrold and D.C. Fontana put much effort into organizing the episode's story structure. Gerrold offered, "I went in and we blocked something out that we thought would work and we had a lot of fun with it." The writers chose to duplicate the narrative structure of "The Trouble with Tribbles", with diplomatic goings-on between Kirk and the Klingons occurring while the tribbles are developing in the background (breeding at a crazy rate in the previous installment and growing fat here). Gerrold was wary that this episode might be too much like the earlier one, however. He commented, "With this episode, you know the joke ahead of time and you know what the punchline has to be, so I was always worried that we were going to be telling the same story over again." Gerrold therefore concentrated on trying to take the humor of the animated episode to a step beyond that of its live-action predecessor. "We still had fun," he related. "We said, 'We still want to have fun and do it as a comedy, and let's see if we can take it beyond where we were before. Let's see if we can go to the next step. " (TAS DVD audio commentary) * David Gerrold's original concept for this episode was that it would introduce extremely vicious tribble predators that bred as fast as tribbles, and crew members would then begin to go missing. The production staff realized, however, that they would not be permitted to show such vicious critters to an audience of children watching on a Saturday morning. The joke of the tribble predators being implied as man-eaters was consequently not included in the story. (TAS DVD audio commentary) * The plot point regarding the supposedly "safe" tribbles becoming fat and problematic allowed David Gerrold to purposefully include an indirect reference to science's inability to create quick "fix-it"s for problems. He remarked, "I am a strong believer in the law of unintended consequences. Every 'fix' creates its own problem." http://www.startrekanimated.com/tas_david_gerrold.html * David Gerrold found that the involvement of Spock and Cyrano Jones in this episode allowed him plenty of chances to add humorous lines of dialogue into the script. "Once we brought Cyrano on board, then things got fun, because then I could start having fun writing funny lines," stated Gerrold. "I love writing funny lines. And Spock and Cyrano Jones, side by side, you get all kinds of opportunities to do funny lines." (TAS DVD audio commentary) * The scene in which Kirk and Cyrano Jones remind each other that Klingons and tribbles don't like one another was, in the words of David Gerrold, "all necessary recap for people who had forgotten or people who ... hadn't seen the original tribble episode." It wasn't the only reminder written into the outing. "Then we had to do a little bit of recap on all the different parts of the original," Gerrold explained. "We had to give you those scenes to remind you, to get you back in the mood." (TAS DVD audio commentary) * As an inside joke, David Gerrold concocted an animated cameo for himself in this episode. "There was a line in the script that the transporter crewman looked suspiciously like the author of the episode," recalled Gerrold, "which was me writing myself into the animated series." ( audio commentary) He also commented, "I don't always write myself into scripts. But ''Trek was special. So I wrote a little cameo for myself. That's all." http://www.startrekanimated.com/tas_david_gerrold.html * The script of this episode was forty pages in length. (TAS DVD audio commentary) The episode's final script draft was dated . http://www.tribbletoys.com/items/book62.html It referred to Koloth's ship as the ''Devisor, though that name is not present in the final aired episode. Cast * Along with Mark Lenard (Sarek) and Roger C. Carmel (Harry Mudd), Stanley Adams (Cyrano Jones) is one of only three actors, besides the regulars, to play the same character on both this series and the original Star Trek series, having appeared as Jones in "The Trouble with Tribbles". David Gerrold once related that Adams was specifically sought after – even though the animated series used the vocals of regular cast members wherever possible, in an effort to keep costs down – because it was believed that his voice was absolutely needed for the role of Cyrano Jones. ( audio commentary) * Klingon Captain Koloth, who also first appeared in "The Trouble with Tribbles", was voiced by James Doohan here, despite having been portrayed by William Campbell in the original Star Trek series. * Some sources (with the text commentary for "The Trouble with Tribbles" among them) claim that David Gerrold voiced the character of Korax in this installment. Gerrold himself, however, has stated that this was an erroneous rumor. "A lot of people think I did Korax for 'More Tribbles', but I didn't," he said. "Jimmy Doohan did that." * The dialogue from this episode's script was recorded with the full regular cast in attendance (the first time they had reunited since filming of the original series ended in January 1969). This recording session was at Filmation's studios in Reseda, California, in June 1973 (on or prior to the fourth of that month), and also included recording of the vocals for and . (Star Trek: Communicator issue 119, p. 32; The Star Trek Compendium, 4th ed., p. 143) Production * David Gerrold believed that this episode would have been doable, more or less, as a live-action installment. "The effects for 'More Tribbles, More Troubles' would not have been tricky," he supposed, "except for the 'glommer,' the Tribble predator." 's cameo appearance in this animated episode]] * During the animation process, David Gerrold found Filmation willing to bring to screen the in-joke he had scripted. The writer observed, "Sure enough, when they drew that scene, when they animated it, the animators had some fun and drew a little caricature of me at the transporter controls, so I was the transporter crewman .... There's no dialogue, it's just a sight gag." ( audio commentary) * A moment in the briefing scene when Kirk raises one of his hands over his mouth, lessening the amount of lip movements visible on screen, was added to the episode because it allowed the animators to decrease the time it took to sync the character's lip movements to actor William Shatner's voice. (TAS DVD audio commentary) * Due to a production inconsistency, the tribbles in this episode are all pink, unlike their varied color appearances in "The Trouble with Tribbles". This was due to the facts that Hal Sutherland was colorblind and that, to him, pink was consequently light gray. In the episode's audio commentary, David Gerrold refers to this error as "one of the funniest jokes of The Animated Series." He also recollects, "When the cels came back and we saw that the tribbles were pink, we all went, 'What happened?!' And that's where we found out was that the guy ... who did colors for Filmation is colorblind. And so, we told him, 'No, tribbles are brown.' It was too late. He had already assigned the colors .... I mean, he had looked at the drawings and said, 'Well, these little furry creatures, they should be pink. " The Klingons in this episode also wear pink for the same reason; in this case, their tunics are that color. * In another production inconsistency – this time due to the use of recycled footage from – close-up shots of Kyle operating the transporter are used in an instance where Scott is actually the transporter operator. *In the scene where Kirk asks Koloth if he's ready to release the Enterprise, there is a brief moment where Koloth is drawn aboard the Enterprise, rather than on the viewscreen. Koloth's appearance before and after this moment are correctly drawn. Continuity and trivia * Although the script for this episode refers to Koloth's ship as the Devisor, Koloth's ship is called the in dialogue spoken by Kira Nerys in . This suggests Koloth used a different ship in both the latter installment and than he does here. * The ''Star Trek: The Animated Series'' DVD booklet and DVD menu list the stardate for this episode as 5329.4. However, the stardate that Kirk gives in his captain's log is "5392.4." * This episode is the second time Kirk is referred to as being both "tin-plated" and "overbearing" by a Klingon, when Koloth refers to Kirk as a "tin-plated, overbearing excuse for a starship captain." The first time this is mentioned is by Korax, who refers to Kirk as a "swaggering, overbearing, tin-plated dictator with delusions of godhood" in "The Trouble with Tribbles". * This episode also features the second time Cyrano Jones addresses Kirk with his Starfleet rank and surname, before calling him "Friend Kirk." Reception and aftermath * Ultimately, David Gerrold was not entirely happy with the structure of this episode's narrative. (TAS DVD audio commentary) He later expressed his dissatisfaction with the story structure; "It was like, 'I gotta shoehorn Cyrano Jones and the Klingons and Tribbles and the this and the that back into proximity.' So the plot always felt contrived to me." (Star Trek Magazine issue 132, p. 19) Shortly after the episode was produced, Gerrold also became unsatisfied with the name "glommer," wishing he had chosen a different moniker for the tribble predator and finding it "a little bit too funny a name." Gerrold also thought, however, that the dialogue here is much "smoother" than in "The Trouble with Tribbles", owing to the fact that – by the time he scripted this episode – he had much more experience to inspire him (including non-''Trek'' personal experience as a writer as well as having written the teleplay for the previous tribble episode). His favorite moment from the script was the scene where the glommer sees a large tribble and speeds away from it, but the writer even had a nitpick about this scene, feeling it was slightly too typical of more child-oriented cartoons like Tom and Jerry. (TAS DVD audio commentary) Additionally, Gerrold admitted that, in a way, he preferred his other effort for TAS, . ("Bem" audio commentary) Shortly thereafter (specifically, in a interview), Gerrold remarked that his estimation of this episode's quality had improved since its production. "I thought the episode held up pretty good. I sat down to watch it with this perspective of time and distance, and I actually enjoyed it. There were some funny lines and some funny gags. So I had a good time with it. " (Star Trek Magazine issue 132, p. 19) * On 4 June 1973, the television network NBC publicly made the announcement that Star Trek s regular cast had reunited to record the script for this installment (as well as the teleplays for an additional two episodes). (Star Trek: Communicator issue 119, p. 32) * Some contemporaneous fan response to the episode was negative. "A couple of the fans, who had fanzines, wrote reviews that they felt this was an unnecessary rehash," recalled David Gerrold. Despite somewhat agreeing with this criticism, he also believed the reuse of the tribbles was justified. Remembering his reaction to the fanzines, Gerrold stated, "I thought, 'Well, yeah.' But, you know, the tribbles had become, by then, such a wonderful part of ''Star Trek lore that we felt we owed it to the audience to come back to the tribbles." (TAS DVD audio commentary) * David Gerrold found that his animated cameo here was hardly noticed. "''A few people recognized me, but not very many," he said. ( audio commentary) * D.C. Fontana has repeatedly cited this as one of her favorite installments of the animated Star Trek (along with , , and ). ( ; Star Trek Magazine issue 128, p. 46) In a video interview for StarTrek.com, Fontana also remarked that she believed this outing, in common with "Bem", "very much got across the Star Trek feeling and mode." * Likewise, when Hal Sutherland was asked (in ) about which of the episodes from the animated Star Trek he liked the best, he named this installment, saying that it "stands out" for him. * The unofficial reference book The Trek 25th Anniversary Celebration (p. 47), by James Van Hise, cites this episode – due to Stanley Adams reprising the character of Cyrano Jones herein – as one of three installments that, collectively, the book regards as "the plus side" of the animated Star Trek series (the other such outings being and ). * Similarly, the unauthorized reference book Beyond the Final Frontier (p. 57) cites this as one of three installments from the animated series that "stand out from the pack" (the others being and "Yesteryear"). The book also describes this outing as "fun" and proposes that, in common with "The Slaver Weapon", it would have made a "great live-action" episode. * The official reference book Star Trek Vault: 40 Years From The Archives (pp. 32-33) likewise holds this episode in high regard, stating, "It manages to recapture the humor and light touch of the first tribbles episode while taking things to an even more broadly comical extreme, making use of some of the comedic possibilities made much easier in animation (such as the image of Captain Kirk struggling to push an enormous tribble out of his chair." The same book additionally considers the return of Stanley Adams as Cyrano Jones to have been "also a boon to the episode" and concludes, "He actually sounds a little more at ease with voice acting than some of the regulars." * In the unofficial reference book Boarding the Enterprise: Transporters, Tribbles and the Vulcan Death Grip in Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek (p. 53), described this as one of the "most notable" installments of the animated Star Trek series (in common with and ). * The editors of Trek magazine collectively scored this episode 4 out of 5 stars (a rating that they termed "very good"). (The Best of Trek #1, p. 109) * In 's "Ultimate Guide" ( ), this episode was rated 3 out of 5 Starfleet arrowhead insignias. * In the unofficial reference book Trek Navigator: The Ultimate Guide to the Entire Trek Saga (p. 148), co-writers Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross both rate this episode 2 and a half out of 4 stars (defined as "average"). * Following the production of this outing, the animation cel of David Gerrold's likeness ended up in his own possession. http://www.startrekanimated.com/tas_david_gerrold.html * Immediately after working on the installment, David Gerrold began work on the later animated Star Trek outing "Bem". While writing that episode, D.C. Fontana arranged a meeting between Gerrold and a group of high school children who were visiting the halls at Filmation and were Star Trek fans, one of whom suggested to Gerrold that the animated series do a sequel to "The Trouble with Tribbles". The child proceeded to explain his own idea for the proposed sequel, before Gerrold interrupted to reveal that such an installment had already been written and was in production. The fan insistently continued relating his own idea and ignored Gerrold saying three times that such a sequel was in the works, so the writer finally excused himself and left. Following the initial airing of this episode, Gerrold learned (from Gene Roddenberry) that the child had sent a letter to NBC, accusing the writer of plagiarizing the idea for the tribble sequel. Gerrold posted a return letter, explaining at length that he had not stolen the concept for the installment. He also asked that he not meet fans at Filmation in future, a request to which Filmation president Lou Scheimer was extremely understanding. (TAS DVD audio commentary) Adaptation * This episode was novelized by Alan Dean Foster in Ballantine Books' Star Trek Log 4 (together with and ). Remastered information * This episode, along with the other episodes of The Animated Series were remastered in 2006 for the show's DVD debut. As of 2014, this is the only TAS episode to have been released on Blu-Ray in high definition. * Although German television channel AnixeHD broadcast The Animated Series in High Definition in (directly transferring from film), this episode was the first to be digitally remastered in HD by Paramount. The episode's release – as part of the TOS Season 2 Blu-ray collection – was first announced in August 2009. Video and DVD releases * UK VHS release (CIC Video): Volume 1, catalog number VHR 2535, released * A boxed set of the complete series on LaserDisc was released for the US market in * As part of the ''The Animated Series'' DVD collection, Region 1 release: ; Region 2 release: * As part of the TOS-R Season 2 DVD collection, released * As part of the TOS Season 2 Blu-ray collection Links and references Starring * William Shatner as Captain Kirk * Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock ;And * DeForest Kelley as Dr. McCoy Also starring * George Takei as Sulu * Nichelle Nichols as Uhura * James Doohan as ** Scott ** Koloth ** Korax Guest stars * Stanley Adams as Cyrano Jones Background characters * Arex * [[IKS Gr'oth personnel|Ten members of the Gr'oth boarding party]] * Three Enterprise security personnel ** Security lieutenant ** Security crewman ** Security ensign References Boarding Plan C; "Bones"; Deep Space Station K-7; Emergency Defense Plan B; evasive maneuvers; Federation; Federation scout ship; genetically engineered; glommer; integration parameters; ''Gr'oth'', IKS; Klingons; Klingon battle cruiser; Klingon Empire; logic; marksman; metabolism; neoethylene; NCC-G1465; parole; projected stasis field; propulsion unit; quintotriticale; red alert; robot grain ship; Sherman's Planet; Spican flame gems; tribbles; Vulcans External links * * * * |next= }} de:Mehr Trouble mit Tribbles es:More Tribbles, More Troubles fr:More Tribbles, More Troubles (épisode) ja:TAS:謎の新兵器パラライズ光線 nl:More Tribbles, More Troubles pl:More Tribbles, More Troubles Category:TAS episodes